Myers Orts - und Vrkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs 3 volume set by Raymond S. Writht III      

Meyers Orts is a gazetteer describing approximately 210,000 cities, towns, hamlets, and dwelling places in the German Empire prior to World War I. To use it effectively readers must understand its purpose, be able to interpret the Gothic font in which it is printed, and grasp how the information contained in locality entries will guide researchers to records in today's archives, record offices, and libraries.

Meyers was published to assist government officials, merchants, and others in the identification of public services, governmental agencies, educational and religious institutions, and transportation and business facilities in each community. The entries are highly abbreviated, and the editor depended upon these abbreviations and punctuation to communicate a large number of facts about each locality.

Following this Researcher's Guide are translations of the editor's Introduction and his Instruction for the Use of the Gazetteer. To use the gazetteer successfully, raiders must know the contents of both of these sections. This Researcher's guide provides users of Meyers with additional information not found in the Introduction or Instruction for Use of the Gazetteer. The Researcher's guide helps readers interpret each entry and understand how the gazetteer guides them to original records or other information from or about localities of interest to them.